Empyrean Iris

Chapter 11

He couldn't see the ground form here. It had nothing to do with the height, but everything to do with the massive city structure that extended for miles in every direction.

Leaning over the low guard rail, he stared down at thousands of sky bridges and towering arches which blocked his view, confusing his vision, and making him feel like he was staring down at an elaborate I-spy puzzle.

A Sharp wind tousled his hair and tugged at the collar of his jacket.

The air was unsurprisingly cold and thin this high up.

This was as high as anyone was willing to go to reach the magna-pods, and the consecutive floating rings that could bring them into low planetary orbit.

"I absolutely refuse."

"Oh come on doctor, live a little."

"Exactly living that is what I wish to do, not die horribly as my body plunges from the sky."

He leaned even further forward as the wind cut through his open jacket sending little waves through his shirt, rattling against his skin, "Oh please, you can float, so stop being a drama queen."

"I am not the queen of drama, I am simply being truthful, and that wind will blow me into one of those buildings. My helium sack will rupture, and I will plunge to my death."

Captain Vir rolled his eyes to the sky, "The Tesraki are some of the greatest inventors in the known galaxy. They wouldn't implement the technology if it weren't safe."

"Actually it is entirely possible that they would. Tesraki do not have a centralized agency for the monitoring of technological structural integrity. They could have erected this piece of equipment without regard to intergalactic architectural guidelines."

Captain Vir yawned, "Mmmm-Hmmm."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Nope, not a lick." He took a step back from the side railing, and strapped the gravity belt around his waist.

The Tesraki manning the station barely paid attention to them as he handed out belts to those groups stepping off the shuttles.

The rest of the marines had opted to take a shuttle down to the surface, but Captain Vir couldn't help but pass up an opportunity to try out new alien technology.

"Captain, I must insist that you don't."

He stepped back one step, then two, staring down at the strange contraption of a hundred or more concentric rings leading down towards the ground. In theory, they were supposed to track your fall, and then initiate the gravity sequence on the belt when you were close to the ground.

Shuttles cost money, this mode of transport was for poor people. Apparently most people hated it, which boggled his mind: who wouldn't want a little bit of that sweet adrenaline early in the morning?

"Captain I-"

He took one last step back, and then shot forward pitching himself – without hesitation – from the upper platform.

He thought he heard the sharp squeal of the little doctor behind him, but soon enough, the wind was whipping at his face, and he was plunging downwards through the rings.

He really hoped he had put the belt on right.

The ground was getting awfully close awfully quick, the massive buildings slicing through the air on either side of him, thousands of floors whipping past in milliseconds.